A mathematical ranking, from greatest on down, of the fifty greatest athletes currently in action. Plus: make your own pick on Twitter and Facebook.

The Greatest Athletes Right Now

The Greatest Athletes Right Now

Jordan is the greatest ever, you say. But what about the greatest of today? Tiger Woods or LeBron James? Federer or Manny Pacquiao? This is the stuff of endless water-cooler talk. So we decided to answer the question, instead, with the awesome power of mathematics. Objectivity in a sport full of subjectivity — say, boxing — comes down to how you weigh factors like aggressiveness, control of the ring, damage, etc.

Here, we weigh factors not in one sport but many, calculating greatness according to a formula that's admittedly full of its own built-in biases, and applying it to an assortment of the men and women often considered the best in their class. We've attempted to account for not only wins or raw talent (or the available universal measures of raw talent), but also the intangibles that help complete an athlete's entire persona — how he uses his fame and how it's perceived (sorry, Kobe, Vick, Phelps, Rinaldo, and Tiger).

The final equation is posted above, combining all the factors below. Read on for the tally and important notations. Debate accordingly.

The Variables

MVP = Number of times voted sport's MVP or athlete of the year
Champ = Number of major championships, max of one per year
YouTube = Number of hits on YouTube
Google = Number of Google hits for name in quotes
Charity = Google hits for name and "charity"
Scandal = Google hits for name and "scandal"
Forbes = Money earned on Forbes 2011 richest athletes list
SportSkill = Sport's rank on ESPN sports difficulty list
DUI.Assault = Number of first 10 Google hits for "name arrested" that describe real DUI or assault arrests

1. Roger Federer

1. Roger Federer

Note: Not only can the Swiss star swing a racket unlike anybody else. He's something of an eagle scout to the sporting world, his charity far outstripping any scandal, and not a DUI in sight. Of course, seven Wimbledon wins and nine major sportsman-of-the-year awards don't hurt.